Trump hints Kim Jong-un IS ill as he hopes ‘everything will be fine’ and admits he ‘knows situation’ but can’t talk
DONALD Trump hinted Thursday that Kim Jong-un is unwell as he said he hoped "everything will be fine" with the missing despot - adding that he "understands the situation very well" but cannot discuss it.
The whereabouts of the North Korean leader has been a mystery since news broke two weeks ago that he may have died.
“I just hope everything is going to be fine. But I do understand the situation very well.”
The response was not the first time this week the president has said he has a strong idea about the whereabouts of Kim but did not provide specifics.
The president responded: “Kim Jong Un? I can’t tell you exactly. Yes, I do have a very good idea, but I can’t talk about it now.”
“I just wish him well.”
South Korean officials have since said they have detected no signs of unusual activity in North Korea.
Government officials from the south and a Chinese official with the Liaison Department challenged subsequent reports suggesting that Kim was in after surgery.
At the same time, an official familiar with U.S. intelligence also said they had not reason to conclude Kim was seriously ill, despite the North Korean leader being known to have health problems.
Kim's whereabouts was last reported on April 11, when he presided over a state meeting.
Since then, he missed the birthday of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, on April 15.
This is not the time the 36-year-old has disappeared from public view.
In 2014, Kim went missing for more than a month, only to reappear on state TV walking with a limp.
These images lead to further reports of the leader's poor health, such as his apparent heavy smoking and pointing out the weight he had gained since taking office.
Meanwhile, a retired US army general said this week that he thought the White House knows more about Kim's health than its admitting.
Jack Keane, who previously served as Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army, said he thought the North Korean leader was still alive, but that figures within the regime were trying to conceal something "fundamentally wrong" with him.